Year: 2008

Grady Booch blogged about our patterns & practices Application Architecture Guide 2.0, which is our Microsoft playbook for the application platform. It’s a thoughtful post and he obviously took the time to figure out the structure of the guide. The guide is probably particularly relevant for him since he’s working on his Handbook of Software…

I posed my Lessons Learned from Jack Canfield on Sources of Insight. Jack presented to Microsoft earlier in October. He’s the author of many successful books including Chicken Soup for the Soul and The Success Principles. He holds the Guinness Book World Record for having seven books simultaneously on the New York Times Bestseller List. …

One of the simplest ways to improve your effectiveness is to know the pecking order of persuasion. I wrote a post on Sources of Insight about how character trumps emotion trumps logic. This is a pretty important piece of information, considering it impacts how well you influence your peers, your kids, your manager, your stakeholders…

This is for all you life-long learners out there. If you know your learning styles, you can improve your results. You can also improve your interaction with others. This is something that shows up everyday, but you might not be aware of it. I posted an article on the key learning styles and how you…

I tested Evernote with my time management system, The Zen of Results. Evernote is like ITunes for knowledge. Check out how easily The Zen of Results fit with Evernote: It took me under 5 minutes from start to finish. It was intuitive and friction free. One of the keys to effective time management techniques is…

I created a list of my favorite personal development books on Sources of Insight. I’m a fan of continuous learning with an emphasis on personal excellence. This includes working on interpersonal skills, leadership skills, thinking skills … etc. Basically, I’m on a quest for the best principles, patterns, and practices for effectiveness and books end…

We released our final release of the patterns & practices Application Architecture Guide 2.0 on Codeplex. It’s the "Microsoft playbook for application architecture." This is our guide to help solution architects and developers make the most of the Microsoft platform. It’s a distillation of many lessons learned. It’s principle-based and pattern-oriented to provide a durable,…

Are you the best at what you do? Could you be the best at something else? How do you know when to hold’em? How do you know when to fold’em? The Gambler teaches us: "You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em. Know when to walk away, and know when…

Jason shares how he implements the Zen of Results workflow as well as a dialogue around some sticking points with his team. Jason’s one of the most effective people I know and his insights are always crisp and actionable. Here’s my key take aways: Free yourself from your tasks to focus on delivering real value….

One of the keys to making impact is knowing "why" you do what you do? Chasing the "what" can be a red herring. It’s living your"why" and "how" that helps you be your best and it’s where your inner strength comes from. Most importantly, it’s where you give your best where you have your best…